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The man here in African traditional garb is not a South African. He is, if you like, “a
foreigner”. I do not like the term “foreigner” because us cultural Africans consider ourselves
as 1 NATION from Cape to Cairo. But he is a so-called foreigner. He is from Swaziland.
He is the Head of State there. He is His Majesty King Mswati III. I really would not have loved
to comment much about him. I just found him on the same magazine as I found the Minister
of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs [in South Africa]. This man happens to be my maternal
cousin. I share one common ancestor with him, namely, King Sobhuza I. He, through his own,
if you like, descendants of King Sobhuza I, and I through Inkhosikati LaTfwala. And then,
Prince Khenkhana Dlamini, one of the founders of the Emjindini Royal Umphakatsi in Barberton.
From Khenkhana then, Prince Sigeyeza Dlamini. And then, Princess Mafede Eleanor Dlamini
a.k.a. Mrs Mavimbela, who is my maternal grandmother. I had thought it is just important to show
around such issues because I am sending a copy as well to His Majesty about the unfair
treatment us other ethnic groups other than Tembu, particularly Tembu... its not the entire
Xhosa Nation, are being not fairly treated in South Africa, only relatives of Mandela
must, you know occupy, at least in the Department of Defence, important positions as is the
case with the likes of General Temba Matanzima [born Monday 020253,on one hand] and the centre
of my false charges I showed earlier on (Brigadier General Siziwe Zini-Bobelo born Thursday 171160)
on the other hand all of whom who are said to be of royal connections. But then if royal
connections count, why doesn’t Phiri count? Even paternally I am related to African royalty.
The original kings of present-day KwaZulu-Natal, the [Matanje-Phiri People]. And, what is the
criterion? Is Mandela the only person who matters in South Africa? This man or rather,
very senior officer you see in the picture is very important. And I just wish him speedy
recovery. He is my General Officer Commanding of the Army Intelligence Formation and the
Army Headquarters in Pretoria. He is as of this moment not feeling well, and is recuperating
at home. He is a man with a lot of understanding, but like any other human being, fraught with
a lot of shortcomings. But, as a military officer we are all of us satisfied, and I
am sure his 2nd in command, Colonel Niewoudt, will also attest to his integrity as it were.
A speedy recovery, Sir! The picture of some VIP’s here who are not going to feature
in this story, except for the gentleman here at the centre. This is Lieutenant General
Temba Templeton Matanzima cousin of His Excellency President Mandela. And, yes, he is just one
of the pillars of strength if General Bobelo is anybody to go by. She would rely on him
to defend her in all the corruption she was into with Lentsoe [born Friday 301162], and
her rise to power, assisted by the likes, as I have intimated, of the Human Resources,
current human Resources officer, Derrick Mbuyiselo Mgwebi [born Friday 281256]. But this is the
man that General Bobelo, then a major, would point as her last refuge and there is not
question that this general is the cousin to Nelson Mandela. They descend from the same
ancestor, King Ngubencuka Vusani of the Tembu Tribe. It is not “Xhosa”, but it is “Tembu
Tribe”. I have seen in a lot of my presentations (and because of my previous lack of understanding)
I used to think that Xhosa and Tembu is the same thing. It is “the same” only because
Apartheid lumped together a lot of Africans who are ethnically different and called them
one ethnic group. But actually, this is a Tembu act of, without particularly blaming
this particular gentleman, TRIBALISM/ “BLACK RACISM” for which they use the name of Nelson
Mandela to propagate. But he is a pillar of strength. Incidentally, it is not only “Siziwe”
Zini or rather General Bobelo who is relying on this gentleman. It would seem that he also
has a daughter, at least one daughter [“Miss T. Matanzima” and character born Wednesday
280782]. And I have heard reports from at least one of the previous or current supervisors
of the child that every time that they try to instill discipline on his child, the father
will phone the unit and say I don’t want this or that to happen to my child. So there
is no way of commanding junior officers who are relatives of Nelson Mandela’s because
they want to run the Army of the Republic of South Africa the way they would like to
run it as if Nelson Mandela were God. There is a challenge awaiting South Africa in that
regard. Just another thing I missed about this gentleman of the Tembu tribe where Mandela
comes from in the Transkei is that at some stage recently Matanzima was the Acting Secretary
for Defence, meaning that he was actually the [Director General and] engine of the Department,
the very secretary for Defence from whom I have been requesting funds to run my case
as per my right, at the High Court, or any court for that matter just like my Commander-in-Chief
Zuma has had state support for his case. And even Jackie Selebi. The one who has been recently
found guilty of corruption. The state pays for such [matters] but [Matanzima], the man
you see on picture, has been part of the syndicate that has been denying me funds or at least
advising the Minister that I do not deserve funds. Currently, there is a new person who
has come in. But what is a greenhorn going to do if those who went before her...it’s
a woman, by the way…tell her, or don’t tell her about Phiri? So, this gentleman is
quite aware of my case which started with a predecessor or two before him who killed
himself, unfortunately in a car accident, called “Boy January Masilela”. So, that
is it. He would also know about it because his cousin or relative Bobelo probably tells
him a lot about it. They attend parties together because family is more important than anything
else in our organization which is what undermines discipline today. The picture you see in front
of you is of the Chief of South African Army to which I belong. He is Lieutenant General
Solly Shoke. Just to confirm a few other details here at the bottom. That is basically that!
At some stage I talked about my General Officer Commanding [Magasela] who is indisposed. [Magasela]
reports directly to General Shoke [born Wednesday 150856]. I really have no comment about him.
Since he came in office, it is more than four years now, after Lieutenant General Ramano
[born Friday 070739]. And Shoke has not lifted a finger about Phiri. I don’t exist in his
eyes and I don’t want to say if that is positive or negative because my case anyway
is being handled now at the level of the State President, the Commander in Chief. [Shoke]
might have decided that he doesn’t want to get involved. But that is his choice. Anyway
that is that. One of the problems that come with the politicization of the Army is that
you get people (military officers) who are highly scientific in their approach and precise
in their analysis, to get involved in an imprecise science called “Politics”. So in my ten
years while I was denied a chance to study any further as a military officer; was denied
anything... I don’t even have a post, for ten years almost, I come and report and do
nothing at work, I have had time to study about the phenomenon called Nelson Rolihlahla
Mandela and the milieu where he comes from and this is some of the stuff that I basically
found. But the long and short of it is...there we have our picture! But now we are going
to read outside of this screen what the presentation is [all about] here. They are talking about
the Tembu People. They say: The Tembu are one of a handful of nations and population
groups which speak Xhosa in South Africa. In Xhosa the name is Abathembu. "Aba-" being
a common prefix for "peoples". Prior to British conquest and incorporation, their territory,
called "Tembuland" in the nineteenth century, the Tembu had an independent kingdom. The
clan name or isibongo of the Tembu kings is Madiba. Recent kings including Sabata Jonguhlanga
Dalindyebo have used the surname of Dalindyebo from the name of the nineteenth century king.
After conquests the Tembu were administered by the government of the Cape Colony as 1
of the Transkeian territories which with exception of a few missionaries and white traders were
treated as lands reserved for African occupation. Other peoples in the territories who had formerly
had independent kingdoms included the Gcaleka branch of the Xhosa; the Mpondo who split
into two kingdoms late in the nineteenth century; the Bhaca; and the Xesibe. Under Apartheid,
Transkei, and I think that is where things get important as a note from the reader...Transkei
under Apartheid was turned into a Bantustan. In the ethnic theory underpinning Apartheid,
the Transkei was regarded as the homeland of the Xhosa people. As a result, the Tembu
people are often misidentified as being Xhosa. Just as a by the way, I just want to say in
my earlier writings when I was confronted with the problem of Mandelocracy in the Department
of Defence I was also a victim of that misidentification of looking at Mandela as a Xhosa when in fact,
he is having a distinct ethnic indentity, unlike what the colonists created in South
Africa which unfortunately, our new government is continuing with, that he is a Xhosa. He
belongs to the ethnicity of Tembu and there is really no connection whatsoever despite
all writings done by many writers including Mandela himself that they are part of the
Xhosa Nation. They are not. The Xhosa were a heroic people who fought the British through
and through whereas, the Tembu, particularly His Excellency Nelson Mandela’s great grandfather,
King Ngubencuka Vusani, was a collaborator with [Colonial] British forces. Some people
say that is the reason... it’s in the blood, why you have the picture of Nelson Mandela
next to that of Cecil John Rhodes, the one who rampaged around Zambia, Zimbabwe and South
Africa for gold and other minerals. And Mandela is prepared to put his name next door to that
of Cecil John Rhodes, and to have a statue built for him in Trafalgar Square, London.
This is just a by the way. Just to go deeper into Mandela and this issue of tribalism in
the Department of Defence, there is also the issue of the townships. Mandela is a giant
in the mass media, but in the South African townships wherever I go, [they] call Mandela
a sell-out to the British [Colonialists of South Africa]. The fact that also his days
on Robben Island where he was not the longest-serving prisoner but Jeff Masemola was, were not said
to be completely spent in prison... he was supposed to be spirited out every so often
by the Apartheid regime to spend some free time if you like in Cape Town, doesn’t endear
him in the townships. But that is all township talk. But in the mass media you dare not speak
about Mandela and his relatives who have taken over the Department of Defence, and it would
seem other Departments also, because service delivery is lacking because of this issue
of cronyism to this gentleman: My former [State] President of South Africa. It is so sad that
a man created to be a giant in South Africa has this underbelly which is frightening indeed!